Thursday, 22 January 2015

Cuadrado and Chelsea: a good fit?

There have been an increasing number of
reports linking Chelsea with Fiorentina wide man Juan Cuadrado. Cuadrado was
one of the stars of the Colombian side that impressed at the World Cup and he
was responsible for the joint highest number of assists alongside Toni Kroos.

In the summer the winger was linked with a
move to Old Trafford but that failed to materialise and now Stamford Bridge
seems a more likely destination. That said, it is likely Chelsea will have to
offload players in order to comply with the FFP rules, at the minute it looks
likely that Andre Schurrle and Mo Salah could be on the way out.

Despite the fact that this move seems to be in
the early stages we take a look at how Cuadrado might fit in at the Bridge. In
16 Serie A games the 26 year old has four goals and four assists, which is a
good return. He has had the 7th highest number of shots per game so
far with an average of 3.1 shots per game. To add to his assists Cuadrado also
creates 2.2 chances per game, the fifth highest average in Serie A.

He completes 2.5 dribbles per game and his
ability on the ball is further shown by the fact that he is fouled an average
of 4.9 times per game, a lot of defenders struggle to cope with his pace and
trickery. Facing up against Hazard and
Cuadrado would be a terrifying sight for almost all full backs.

Jose Mourinho is a fan of his attacking players
doing their share of the defensive work to, it was the reason levelled at Juan
Mata’s exclusions from his side at the start of last season. Cuadrado makes an
average of 1.3 tackles and 1 interception per game, whilst his four yellow
cards and 1.3 fouls per game show he is capable of doing the dirty side of the
game.

Whether or not this move pans out remains to
be seen, arguably Chelsea don’t need another attacking player but that hasn’t
stopped them before. Cuadrado is certainly a talented individual, but he must
be a team player too if he is to fit in at Chelsea, unseating the likes of
Willian would be by no means an easy feat. I for one would like to see Cuadrado
in the Premier League but we’ll have to wait and see how this one develops.